May 19, 2014

School of Medicine

Page Image

Page Content

Dear Colleague,

I’m writing this one from
Jedediah’s restaurant in Missoula, Mont., where we are waiting for a plane back
to Denver. We attended the University of Montana graduation ceremony, where one
of our nephews was getting his degree. Saturday was a beautiful day; it is cold
and rainy today. The student graduation speaker for his School of Performing
Arts ceremony was terrific. Six minutes – short and sweet!

Last Monday evening, the
Department of Microbiology had a thank you dinner for Randy Holmes, MD, PhD,
who is stepping down as chair after nearly 20 years in the position. Randy will
continue his NIH-funded research and teaching as “just a professor” and begin a
phased retirement over the next several years. I was honored to be asked to be
the speaker at the event and it was a pleasure to recount Randy’s contributions
to the department, the school and the university.

The next afternoon, David
Goff, MD, PhD, dean of the Colorado School of Public Health and chair of the
search committee for my successor as dean of the School of Medicine, gave the
Faculty Senate an update on the search. He said the committee hopes to have
applications in hand by late June and that the public stage of the process
could perhaps begin in August. I was unable to be at the meeting because of a
site visit I was making in Michigan, but I am told that one of the more
interesting questions posed by a faculty member was whether the search
committee has considered how long the next dean should serve. David said there
have been no such discussions about whether the next person needs to serve for
20 to 25 years.

The Global Down Syndrome Foundation
hosted its third annual Be Beautiful Be Yourself DC Gala on Wednesday, May 7, in Washington, D.C., for the
benefit of the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome at the Anschutz Medical
Campus. Tom Blumenthal, PhD, executive director of the Crnic Institute, spoke
about the importance of research funding and 18 beautiful models with Down
syndrome walked the runway, escorted by members of Congress and local
celebrities. Eleanor Holmes Norton, delegate to Congress from D.C., and U.S.
Sen. Jerry Moran from Kansas received the Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocacy
Award, and Holmes Norton’s daughter, Katherine Felicia Norton, was honored as
the Global Down Syndrome Foundation Ambassador. The event put a spotlight on
the needs and rights of people with Down syndrome, and the importance of
research into the connection between Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease, in
front of a packed crowd of legislators and officials from the National
Institutes of Health, who can influence the direction of medical research.

Thanks to the anonymous
first-year medical student who on Friday, May 9, escorted a lost 90-year-old
physician who was looking for Education 2. Dr. Knowles Curwen of Colorado
Springs sent me a lovely letter describing his experience with her and how she
went out of her way to be sure he got where he wanted to go. His quote: “Having
medical students so concerned about the well-being of others augers well for
the future of medicine.” I agree.

Congratulations to Xiao-Jing
Wang, MD, PhD, for receiving the William Montagna Lecture Award at the annual
meeting of the Society for Investigative Dermatology on Saturday, May 10. The
award honors young active investigators. Xiao-Jing’s laboratory has developed
the first genetically engineered mouse model that develops head and neck squamous cell carcinomas with full
penetrance.

The Department of Surgery’s
first annual research symposium will be held on Monday, June 2. Clifford
Ko, MD, director of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality
Improvement Program, will be speaking at Grand Rounds that morning, followed by
Department of Surgery research presentations in clinical and basic science
categories. Awards will be given to the best presentation in each
category. Ko’s lecture is at 7 a.m. in the Anschutz Inpatient Pavilion 2
Auditorium.

I was struck by Timothy
Egan’s piece on the New York Times op-ed page Friday entitled “The Commencement Bigots.” I loved reading the quotes from the graduation
talks of David Foster Wallace, Steve Jobs and Stephen Colbert and found the
rest of his message – maintaining balance and being able to listen to other
points of view – pretty important.

This week is commencement and
reunion week here. Dinners every night except Tuesday! The Medical Scientist
Training Program award dinner is tonight, the Alpha Omega Alpha dinner
Wednesday night and the Silver and Gold Banquet Thursday night. Friday night,
there are only eight reunion dinners to go to before the caloric climax of the
week at the Saturday morning all-alumni breakfast. My annual Memorial Day
weekend fast will begin shortly thereafter.

Keep your eyes on the weather
forecast for Friday. Our School of Medicine’s Hooding and Oath Ceremony is
scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on Boettcher Commons. Early predictions by
the National
Weather Service were projecting a
slight chance of rain, but hopefully it will hold off until the
afternoon. It has rained on two graduation ceremonies in the last 25
years. We’ll post information on the Anschutz Medical Campus’ website if
we need to take cover from the elements.

No email next Monday. Have
a quiet holiday if working and a wonderful holiday if off. Congratulations to
all the graduates and award winners of the coming week.

"What’s Going On Here" is an email news bulletin from Richard
Krugman, MD, Dean of the CU School of Medicine, that is distributed to inform
University of Colorado School of Medicine faculty members about issues pertaining
to the School’s mission of education, research, clinical care and community
service. See the UCH-Insider →

If you would like to receive these emails directly, please
contact Cheryl.Welch@ucdenver.edu.
To unsubscribe, please click on the link below.

To unsubscribe from the
SOMD-WEEKLY-MESSAGE list, click the following link: